Succession of artificial seaweed communities in an artificial iron reef at Ikata, southern Japan was studied based on monthly or bimonthly observations from February 1999 to August 2000. Communities were associated with different substrata (40 cm x 60 cm: steel, concrete, wood and stone) as the cover on artificial iron reefs (4.5 m x 4.1 m x 2.5 m, 45.38 m3 and 3.2 ton), which were placed on a sandy substratum at 8 m depth. Within one month diatoms dominated on all substrata with cover of approximately 100%. Enteromorpha intestinalis and Colpomenia sinuosa dominated on the reef within three months after the placement in the spring. Seaweed communities on the reef decreased during the summer. In the winter, the seaweeds on the reef recovered. Sargassum spp., Ecklonia kurome and Padina arborescens dominated on each substratum after one year. Seaweed communities on the artificial reef were similar to those on the rocky substratum around the artificial reef and also similar on different substrata covering the iron artificial reef. These results indicate that seaweed succession was impacted by season and the recruitment of spores and propagules from mature algae around the artificial reefs.